Portrait (Live)

As a 75th birthday present from his magnificent Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mariss Jansons is celebrated in scores at which he excels. Alongside authoritative accounts of the Fourth symphonies of both Beethoven and Brahms, we have a Mahler Ninth of controlled passion, staggeringly well played. Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie and 4 Letze Lieder (with the superb Anja Harteros) are beautifully judged, while, more surprisingly, Jansons also tackles the hyper-modernist Amériques by Varèse. Representing the 18th century, Haydn’s Harmoniemesse and the Minuet from Symphony No. 88 are both dispatched with great style.